Agricultural producers in Morgan County saw little damage from the flood overall.

Most of the areas in which flood waters overflowed the banks of the South Platte River were pastures, and cattle producers had plenty of warning to get their stock out of those and other fields, said Morgan County Extension Agent Marlin Eisenach.

Crops that are in standing water may rot before the water dries up, but more than 95 percent of crops in the county were not touched by the flooding at all, he said.

In fact, there may be a bonus from the weather for some growers. The county saw from 1 to 2 inches of rain during the storm, which should help those who are ready to plant winter wheat, Eisenach said.

There were places where flood waters covered the roots of crops in the fields, but not many, he said, since there are few cultivated fields close to the South Platte.

The largest impact was seen in the Orchard, Goodrich and Weldona areas, Eisenach noted.

Pastures could see some benefit from the moisture, he said. Of course, those pastures could have erosion, debris and silt on them, and sometimes they will have different shapes due to the river changing its stream. The river may flow where the pasture once sat.

One local resident recounted how a corn field near Morgan County Road 5 and Highway 144 was inundated by the rising waters. The water left behind a layer of muddy silt.

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He said an official convinced him to leave just in time. As he was preparing to depart, the waters reached the area where he normally parks his pickup.

A small, nearby dike was destroyed, as were other structures.

On Thursday, the river was still running outside its banks near Highway 144 and MCR 12, noted Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone, who was on the scene.

Waters still rolled around the trunks of trees that had been far from the banks of the river before the flood, although the flow was considerably reduced from earlier this week, he said.

Crone said the county was lucky that the impact of the flood was not greater.

Orchard still had standing water and a covering of mud across the ground, and a nearby bridge was still closed.

However, most of even the Goodrich and Weldona area looked like nothing had happened beyond a rain storm.

While cattle producers had the option to take stock from the area to the Morgan County Fairgrounds, few chose that action, since they had plenty of time to move livestock, Eisenach said.

Producers will not have to worry about contamination of crops by sewage, because so few crops were affected, and because that much water greatly dilutes any contamination, he noted.

Crops

Eisenach said the crop conditions are pretty good overall.

Corn fields are coming along, and some of that crop is starting to ripen.

The rain did slow up some corn growth, and perhaps 15 to 20 percent of county corn will go to silage, he said.

The moisture the county saw likely will not slow up the drying of corn prior to harvest, since the soil will just absorb it.

Corn could use more heat units to finish out the year, but it has had plenty of sunshine this year, Eisenach said.

Despite the flooding, many fields were still short of moisture, according to the Colorado Crop Progress report put out by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

About 31 percent of growers reported that their top soil was short or very short of moisture. 59 percent reported that subsoil moisture is short to very short at the end of last week.

However, 54 percent of growers said they had adequate top soil moisture and 15 percent said they had surplus moisture.